


Patrol

by Rin_the_Shadow



Series: To Turn Spark [3]
Category: Transformers (Unicron Trilogy), Transformers: Armada
Genre: (possibly) canon compliant, Allusions to PTSD, Autobot/Decepticon relations, Character Study, Gen, No shipping, Optimus Prime looks after his men, Optimus is a good leader, Patrolling, Possible AU to Transformers: Armada, Reflection, War for Cybertron, new recruits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-14 20:46:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14144217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rin_the_Shadow/pseuds/Rin_the_Shadow
Summary: Optimus Prime patrols the halls of the base, keeping track of all his men. Sometimes, it does him some good to be alone with his thoughts.





	Patrol

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write something with Optimus Prime as the main character for awhile. I had a few prompts in my head, and ended up deciding to combine them.

The base was quiet at 1:30 at night, not that the Autobot leader would have expected anything else at this hour. Not on Earth, at least. On Cybertron, or travelling through space, you had to keep on your toes. Optimus supposed the habit was just too ingrained to break by this point. Besides, it put him at ease to know everyone was all right.

On top of that, the quiet gave him opportunities for reflection which he seldom had otherwise. Though he was nowhere near Red Alert in that capacity, he found it did him some good to take time alone with his thoughts.

He started with the medbay and began working his way around. Only one room off was Red Alert. If a patient needed him, he wanted to be sure he could reach them as quickly as possible, with as few potential obstructions as possible. He claimed it was only logical, yet Optimus could see the care and compassion that went into his decision. His old friend had always chosen the good of the many over the good of the few—or himself. He often found himself wishing he could temper his own emotions with some of Red Alert’s objective logic. Of course, all was well with Red Alert. All was always well.

Nearby was Smokescreen—no, Optimus stopped himself. He preferred to be called Hoist, now. Though Optimus had little personal experience with it, he had heard and read that robots who transferred to another body sometimes chose to take new identities along with it. He didn’t fully understand it, but if he believed himself to be Hoist now, he would make every effort to support him.

Since his former body was torn apart by the Requiem Blaster, he had been moved to a chamber closer to Red Alert’s. He hadn’t had any difficulties with his new body thus far, but Red Alert still wanted to monitor him, just in case. When he was Smokescreen, he had never known when to stop pushing it, and both Optimus and Red Alert doubted this would change now that he was Hoist. “I don’t want to sound mistrustful,” Red Alert had said, “but I highly doubt he would come to me even if something went wrong.”

Optimus paused, tuning his audio receptors for any irregularities. Aside from the faint humming of the base’s power supply, all was quiet.

He was careful to tread quietly as he passed Scavenger’s chamber. The old veteran was a heavy sleeper, and enjoyed a deeper recharge cycle than most. However, he hadn’t survived millennia of wars by sleeping through them, and Optimus didn’t want to risk his reprimand. Even though he was glad to have him onboard, he had to admit that the presence of his mentor made him feel a bit of pressure to measure up. Scavenger had picked up on it, too.

At one point, he’d pulled the Autobot leader aside and said, “Look, I know what things used’ta be, but I’m not here to evaluate you. Just treat me like any of the others.”

“Not all of the others have your level of experience,” Optimus had pointed out.

“Rub that in, why don’tcha!” Scavenger had laughed. “All right, a very old one of the others, then!”

But age and rank aside, he had provided valuable intelligence about the layout and procedures at the Decepticon base. It had been useful in formulating strategies, to be sure, but it had also helped him to gage how he should communicate with Decepticon troops during battle. He was never sure if anything he said got through to any of them. Considering their newest recruit, he must have done _something_ right.

Closer to his own room was Hot Shot. Given his recent stubborn streak, it was hard to believe this was the same ‘bot who had been so skittish and desperate for his approval when he first enlisted. Apparently, Optimus Prime had a bigger reputation than he was aware of. It had taken decades to convince him that there was no need to prove himself. He suspected Hot Shot still didn’t fully believe it.

He paused in his gate, suppressing a chuckle. What was it Scavenger always told _him_?

Next to Hot Shot’s room was Sideswipe, the team’s youngest. There had been younger recruits before, but it still disturbed Optimus Prime that even the Autobots would enlist one who was barely more than a child. And yet, what choice did he have? If he turned him away because of his youth, where would he go that he wouldn’t be a target for Decepticons? He had once broached the subject of delaying Sideswipe’s enlistment, but allowing board. The younger ‘bot had been horrified, stammering that he couldn’t—that he would prove he could be useful—that he would serve in any way he could. So Optimus had relented, but continued to keep a close watch.

As did Blurr, though he pretended not to. Optimus wound back through the far corridor. He already knew Blurr wouldn’t be in his room.

The sniper had seen a lot in the war. Scavenger had been deliberately vague on the details, and so Optimus had chosen not to press the issue. Red Alert had notified him that Blurr’s scans showed several programming alterations, but that he had refused to speak of it when the medic tried to bring up treatment options. Instead, Blurr would slip off in the night and drive until he was almost exhausted, then slip back to his room like nothing had happened.

It saddened Optimus to see what the war had done to his comrade, and yet be unable to help. Still, he was confident Blurr would come around. In the meantime, all he could do was to make himself available and to discourage the rest of his team from pushing him. If things took a turn for the worse, he would be prepared to intervene.

A little farther along, almost opposite Optimus Prime’s chamber, was Jetfire’s. This was primarily for strategy. Although he would have preferred to keep his second-in-command nearby for ease of contact, if the base was attacked, it was better to be far apart. The Decepticons would most likely seek out the commander’s quarters first. Primus willing, Jetfire would be able to lead an evacuation in that time.

Despite his hotblooded nature, Jetfire had already come up with several plans to evacuate Hot Shot and Sideswipe without risking his own capture. Yet Optimus hoped to the last shine of the Allspark it would never come to that. Whenever they discussed these plans, Jetfire would become almost melancholy. Sometimes he would fly for hours afterwards, never saying a word throughout the flight. He suspected his appearance of recklessness was in part a distraction, to keep that possibility far from his processor.

Last—and Optimus was still unused to this—his circuit led him to Starscream’s chamber. Except for double-agents and rescued prisoners, it was almost unprecedented for a Decepticon to turn spark and become an Autobot. In some ways, he could see why. Starscream struggled to follow orders, shrank from small talk, and generally looked at everything like it would rip his wings off if he didn’t cut it down first. He had chosen the farthest possible room for this very reason, and although Optimus had pretended not to notice, he’d scoped for every possible escape route before deciding on it. Scavenger had told Optimus enough that he could guess the reasoning behind it.

And yet Alexis, one of their young human friends, seemed to be able to talk to him in ways the others couldn’t. Perhaps he saw her as less of a threat, but it had surprised him greatly, given the Decepticons’ general disdain for humanity (or anything non-Decepticon, if he was exhausted enough to admit it). Some of his team had expressed concern over this, but he trusted—if not Starscream’s sense of honor, at least his sense of self-preservation. If he didn’t have standards, he wouldn’t have come to them with the Star Saber Minicons.

Still, he wished he understood better how he could help his transition to the Autobots. Asking him directly only aroused his suspicion, caused him to shut down or take off flying for hours on end before returning and shutting himself in his room. Sometimes Optimus wondered if he’d gained another “teenager,” as the kids had termed it.

Regardless, he knew he wouldn’t earn Starscream’s trust by lurking outside his room in the middle of the night. If he didn’t take it as a direct attempt on his life, he would at least consider it an invasion of privacy. He turned to go back to his quarters, nearly colliding with the seeker in question.

Bright orange optics widened for a split second before narrowing again, that characteristic scowl slipping back into place.

“Lost in your own base, Autobot?” He kept his voice low, but the accusation was plain.

Well, there was no point in chasing sparklings. “Patrol. It helps clear my mind when a lot is going on.”

“Ah, yes.” His lip curled. “Now that you’ve got a Decepticon in your ranks, even _you_ would have to be on high alert.”

“That isn’t what I said.” Optimus kept a firm tone. He wouldn’t abuse the seeker as Megatron had, but he would not put up with blatant disrespect. “Or did you forget that we almost lost Smokescreen just before you joined us?”

The seeker stiffened, his voice taut as he responded, “Of course not.” He hadn’t been present in the attack, having been sent on the suicide mission that led to his defection. That day held a separate meaning for the former Decepticon.

 _Of course_ , Optimus thought belatedly, _of course it would be a sensitive topic for him_. He allowed his tone to soften just a bit. “Of course, a lot happened that day. I can hardly keep track of it all myself.”

The seeker forced out an amused grunt. Another time, it might have been a sarcastic “Indeed.” He wouldn’t say he’d been out of line, but with the slackening of his stance and brief aversion of his optics, he had as good as admitted it.

Optimus sighed. He could not expect too much progress at this hour, but he would celebrate any small victories he could. “In any event, you probably want to recharge after your flight.”

Optics narrowed once more, not into an expression of suspicion, but of puzzlement. “And what makes you so sure I’ve been flying?” _Your men might say I’ve been prowling around for weapons_.

Optimus suppressed a chuckle, certain the ex-Decepticon would've taken it as mockery. “Well, where else would you be?”

For a split second, Starscream looked ready to pounce with any number of alternatives. But as he opened his mouth, he stopped. Almost as if he had suddenly developed a processor glitch and was struggling to run a diagnosis and reboot.

“It’s not such an uncommon habit, after all.” Especially for situations like Starscream and Blurr. “But it is best to recharge after. Besides,” he added, hoping to diffuse the tension, “I’m sure Swindle won’t be happy if I keep you for too long.”

That shook him out of it. His lip curled into a sneer that didn’t quite reflect through his optics. “Swindle will manage,” he said, but he moved to pass Optimus just the same.

The Autobot commander went on his way, still aware of Starscream’s optics carefully watching him until he was a safe distance away. He couldn’t expect complete trust after only a few interactions, but he had observed progress, even so.

He would fight tomorrow’s battles tomorrow, and hold his victories where they were found.

**Author's Note:**

> I actually had a lot of fun writing the interaction between Optimus Prime and Starscream, especially since Optimus has to have that balance between being a leader and wanting to be more empathetic, but not letting himself get walked over. I've been toying with the idea of potentially making the Armada fics I've written a sort of semi-alternate continuity rather than an expansion, but I haven't decided yet.
> 
> Please let me know what you think of it!  
> ~Rin


End file.
